PML-N member moves SC seeking extradition of Raymond Davis

A leader of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has asked Pakistan's Supreme Court to order the immediate extradition of Raymond Davis, a contractor with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) who killed two men in Lahore in January 27, 2011, and that he be tried for the murder of Pakistanis under local penal laws, a media report said.

Written in Urdu, the five-page petition moved before the apex court by Zafar Ali Shah, also seeks a 'lifetime disqualification' for a number of persons named as respondents in the petition, so that none of them is vested with any constitutional, political or state responsibilities in the future, Dawn online reported.

CIA contractor Raymond Davis, former president Asif Ali Zardari, former Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gillani, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, former army chief retired Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, former Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) Director General retired Gen Shuja Pasha, the controller general of military accounts, former ambassador to US Husain Haqqani, former US ambassador Cameron Munter and the federal government have been named as respondents in the petition.

Former PML-N lawmaker Zafar Ali Shah, who has been critical of the government for the past few months over multiple issues including Panama Leaks, has also asked the apex court to order that these respondents be booked for treason by invoking Article 6 of the Constitution, and that their names be placed on the exit control list (ECL).

The petition asked the court to constitute a full bench, consisting of all available judges of the Supreme Court, to take up the petition since the matter involved the national security of Pakistan.

The application comes in the wake of the recently released book of Raymond Davis exposing how the civil-military bigwigs helped him leave Pakistan despite facing murder charges.

Davis' memoir, 'Contractor: How I Landed in a Pakistani Prison and Ignited a Diplomatic Crisis', hit the book stands recently.

In his book, Davis acknowledged that he was a contractor with the CIA and that he killed two men in Lahore on Jan 27, 2011. A car coming to his rescue also killed a third man, Ibadur Rahman, while speeding down the wrong side of the road.

On March 16, 2011, Davis was released after the families of the killed men were paid $2.4 million in blood money. After his acquittal of all charges, Davis returned to the US.

The petition has asked the court to summon the complete case record from the antiterrorism court which eventually released Davis.

Moreover, the court should order an inquiry to ascertain the role of all those characters mentioned by Davis as being instrumental in his release from the Kot Lakhpat jail.

Davis' release on the basis of Islamic laws on Qisas and Diyat has impinged upon and breached the fundamental rights of the people of Pakistan, the petition argued, Dawn reported.

--IANS

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